Rain & Mud
Throughout most of the Third Battle of Ypres, heavy rain poured upon the soldiers. The rain was the cause of multiple problems in the conflict. The heavy rain had caused the artillery holes to fill with water. In addition, British artillery bombardment had damaged the local drainage system, flooding the depressions even more. "The British artillery bombardment...also wrecked the low-lying region's drainage system, and usually rainy weather turned the ground into a wasteland of mud and water-filled craters" (The Battle of Passchendaele (The Third Battle of Ypres), Library and Archives Canada). The artillery craters that would have provided cover for advancing troops were filled, exposing the army to enemy fire. As well as being unable to shelter the Allies, the artillery holes were so many in number that they literally created strings of bogs, stretching the entire length of the battlefield, slowing down the advancing troops considerably. As well as creating trouble for the Allies, the heavy rain had flooded defensive positions such as pillboxes, rendering them nonoperational.
The massive overflow had produced large quantities of mud, which severely lowered troop efficiency and disabled the use of tanks on the battlefield. The massive quantity of mud would make it difficult to march an army in itself, not to mention the equipment necessary to continue the battle. Supplies and tents would be nearly impossible to drag through the thick mud. Also, the lack of tanks in the battlefield would promote mass infantry charges, which were close to suicidal when the mud and machine guns were taken into account. As well as bogging down the army, wire entanglements strewn across the field had mostly sunk into the deep mud, causing unexpected injuries when wading. Due to the reduced speed of the advancing troops, a Allied victory that could have been won without many casualties turned into a bloodbath, as defenders were given time to rain fire upon the Allies. The Allies had lost around 310,000 men, while Germany had lost close to 260,000 men, proving a costly battle to both sides.
The massive overflow had produced large quantities of mud, which severely lowered troop efficiency and disabled the use of tanks on the battlefield. The massive quantity of mud would make it difficult to march an army in itself, not to mention the equipment necessary to continue the battle. Supplies and tents would be nearly impossible to drag through the thick mud. Also, the lack of tanks in the battlefield would promote mass infantry charges, which were close to suicidal when the mud and machine guns were taken into account. As well as bogging down the army, wire entanglements strewn across the field had mostly sunk into the deep mud, causing unexpected injuries when wading. Due to the reduced speed of the advancing troops, a Allied victory that could have been won without many casualties turned into a bloodbath, as defenders were given time to rain fire upon the Allies. The Allies had lost around 310,000 men, while Germany had lost close to 260,000 men, proving a costly battle to both sides.
As well as providing problems for fighting and marching, the rain had caused food shortages. The high water level had flooded the British storehouses, rendering most of the food inedible. The only food left was sodden biscuits and cold stew, hardly the ideal meal. The mud had also contaminated the fresh water supply, forcing soldiers to ration it. Instead of being able to bathe, the soldiers were forced to operate while in their mud-sodden combat uniform.
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"Some of the men looked terribly ill: grey, worn faces in the dawn, unshaved and dirty because there was no clean water."
-Lieutenant Sheriff, 1917 |